Amman Jordan

I started my trip in Amman, Jordan.  I flew from New York's JFK Airport to Istanbul, had a 4-hour layover, then flew to Amman.  I arrived a little past midnight in Amman.  I was met by Karim, the OAT representative, as I deplaned.  Karim had all my paperwork filled out and obtained the Jordanian visa for me.  I was a little nervous about this process because I thought I'd have to do it all by myself.  But OAT and Karim had this worked out.  

I thought my luggage would be one of the first to arrive at the luggage carousel since I was flying business class on Turkish Airlines.  Instead we waited and waited until all the luggage were delivered.  Karim checked and found out that my luggage was being detained because they found a binocular in my suitcase. The security took about an hour going through my binoculars - brand, power, etc.  Apparently, Jordan does not permit binoculars that are above a certain power into the country because of military reasons.  Nothing was explained to me.  I did not arrive at the Crowne Plaza Hotel until 3am that morning.

Since I arrived a day early I had the day free to myself.  I was told that the museum in Amman may be worth visiting.  I took an Uber to the museum, about 15 minutes away in downtown Amman.  

Entrance to the Jordanian Museum in Amman

The museum gave a history of the origins of the Jordan people.  It is a small museum.  I walked through the museum in less than an hour.

That evening we met our tour leader Mohammed.  We also met other travelers and had a nice dinner at the hotel.  There were 10 of us and all of us were to continue with the trip to Egypt.  The next morning after a buffet breakfast, we met to hear Mohammed explain about our Jordan trip and then get ready to explore our first trip in Jordan - to the Citadel and Roman Theater.

Our group, with Mohammed, at the Citadel

Roman Ruins

Amphitheater

Abu Darwish Mosque

Amphitheater

More Roman Ruins

After visiting the Old City we traveled to the older section of downtown Amman.  Here we walked through shops and narrow alleys and ate at a local restaurant.

Walking through narrow streets

Eating Jordan food

At a local restaurant

Kitchen staff

Preparing our meals

We walked through the busiest part of Amman, where the traffic is very busy and there are many types of shops catering to the locals.

A fabric shop

An open-air market

Spices

Nuts

The next day we explore Jerash, one of the best-preserved and complete Greco-Roman city built in AD70.

Later we stopped at a place where they make all kinds of ceramic pieces:  plaques, tables, cases, etc

That night we had dinner at a local Jordanian family.  We talked about what their lives is like living in Jordan.  The conversation was lively and the kids were eager to hear more about America.